Tamil Nadu suicide: Dalit boy laid to rest

The Dalit youth, found dead last week after his marriage with a upper caste girl last year triggered anti-Dalit violence, was laid to rest on Sunday at his native village in the district amid tight security.

The Dalit youth, found dead last week after his marriage with a upper caste girl last year triggered anti-Dalit violence, was laid to rest on Sunday at his native village in the district amid tight security.

The body of 19-year-old E Ilavarasan was taken in a procession before it was buried at a place of his family's choice near Natham colony where a memorial has been planned.

Prohibitory orders have been clamped in the district as a precautionary measure to maintain law and order and political leaders' entry was barred. No untoward incident was reported, police said.

Ilavarasan's marriage with the upper caste girl Divya in October last year and eventual suicide of her father over it led to large-scale violence targeting three Dalit villages including Natham colony in the district on November 7 last year, bringing to fore caste tensions.

While police maintained it was a case of suicide, Ilavarasan's parents and activists suspected foul play as his body was found along railway tracks here on July 4, a day after his wife said she would never go back to him.

The Madras high court had ordered a second autopsy by a team of AIIMS doctors after reports submitted by Dr Thangaraj of SRM College and Research Centre and Dr P Sampathkumar, Sri Ramachandra Medical College differed on whether there was need for further clinical or surgical examination.

The report of second post-mortem, performed on Saturday, would be submitted to the court in a sealed cover, the doctors had said.